The CBC is refusing to air TV ads intended to hold the Harper government accountable for the damage it has done to the national public broadcaster.
Instead, the ads, sponsored by the watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, will air on Bell, Rogers and Shaw channels in English and in French
starting this week.
“With the election underway, we would like to remind Canadians that the Harper government has undermined our national public broadcaster”, said Friends spokesperson Ian Morrison.
The two ads are intended to hold the Harper government to account for the damage it has done to the CBC.
The first ad features person-in-the-street comments from non-actors about why the CBC is important to them, and to Canada.
The second ad relies on satire to make a point. In the ad, a Harper aide, tied to a chair that is sinking in a body of water, shares his thoughts with viewers about his predicament. He had the temerity to urge the Prime Minister to go easy on the CBC, and is now being punished. On his descent, he recognizes a colleague who is suffering the same fate.
Concerning the CBC’s decision to refuse to air the ads, Morrison said:
“All members of CBC’s Board of Directors, including its CEO, have been appointed by Prime Minister Harper, and most of them have been financial supporters of the Conservative Party. Any reasonable person would wonder if this control has any direct or indirect bearing on the CBC’s editorial decision-making.”
